Chapter 234: Are They All Talents?
Liang Kun had some frost on his face when he returned from Xiangcheng.
Xiangcheng is said to be Yun Ce’s, but to truly make Xiangcheng his real property, there are too many things that need handling.
After reading the document handed over by Liang Kun, Yun Ce looked it over carefully, closed the document, and said: “So, those people still see our Yun Clan as a soft persimmon, stretching their hands all over?”
Liang Kun said: “This is unavoidable. Xiangcheng was badly damaged by warfare, and with everything waiting to be rebuilt, we can’t attend to so many things. Other caravans took the chance to insert a foot. Though it sounds bad, they did make up for many of Xiangcheng’s deficiencies.
I came to see the Lord this time because I heard someone suggested to the Lord to drive all those caravans out of Xiangcheng. I think that’s improper. We should keep those caravans and let Xiangcheng prosper first.”
Yun Ce laughed: “Once they take root, it’ll be too late to drive them out.”
Liang Kun laughed: “I think business matters should ultimately be handled with business methods, not by using the Lord’s prestige. The Lord’s prestige diminishes by one part each time it’s used. If all matters require the Lord’s authority, I believe our future will surely be bleak, unable to grow big or strong.”
Yun Ce said: “Can you guarantee that in the early stages, without my involvement, the people of Xiangcheng won’t be left destitute?”
Liang Kun laughed: “That depends on the Lord’s decision. After all, at the right time, I won’t allow Xiangcheng’s merchants to run wild.”
Yun Ce smiled without speaking. Under what conditions will merchants prosper most?
1 The answer is that they prosper most in a state of disorder.
1 The so-called disorder means a state without rules or government officials’ jurisdiction, which best demonstrates the power of commerce, because they will automatically form a set of rules most favorable to themselves, ultimately becoming the kings of this land.
1 What Liang Kun wants now is to first let Xiangcheng prosper, wait for the merchants’ capital to fall in Xiangcheng and take root, and after the market booms, then use Yun Ce’s prestige from killing three thousand in one battle to reclaim the dominant position.
1 This is the famous Close the Door and Beat the Dog Theory.
1 This theory is much criticized in the ancestral land, but many people haven’t thought that merchants’ nature is profit-seeking. They chase wherever there is profit. If you don’t provide them with sufficient profit prospects from the start, they won’t come.
1 Since they’ve come and invested capital, it means there is sufficient profit here.
1 Ordinary people have no need to feel unnecessary sympathy for the miserable ends of high officials and nobles. Now, this saying applies equally to merchants.
1 The reason Liang Kun left his busy workplace to specially come ask Yun Ce if his method is feasible is actually to inquire whether Yun Ce can help him complete the Close the Door and Beat the Dog Strategy in the future and ensure he won’t suffer backlash from those merchants.
1 Yun Ce felt it should be doable. After all, his martial art is still advancing by leaps and bounds. When he can face Shen Tingyu head-on, what Liang Kun seeks will be a mere trifle.
1 And Liang Kun’s strategy of letting the dogs into the city must be maintained for at least three years to keep more dogs.
2 Three years is enough time for Yun Ce.
2 When people are planning, they always feel time passes quickly, but seeing the crops in the fields still growing slowly makes time feel incredibly slow. Those who have grown crops all know that sowing tonight and harvesting tomorrow morning is the best agriculture mode.
2 Every night, E Ji exposes her belly, staring at it unblinkingly. She is a severe patient who feels time passes too slowly.
2 Seeing no change in her belly, she carefully gets off the bed, puts on slippers, and goes next door.
2 Moments later, Yun Ce hears Zhang Min loudly scolding E Ji to get out quickly from next door.
2 Sure enough, E Ji soon returns. She went with a face full of worry, but came back beaming with smiles, even chuckling to Yun Ce: “Young Master, I just lifted Zhang Min’s clothes and looked at her belly. It’s as flat as mine.”
2 Yun Ce, who was reading《King Huo’s Biography》, didn’t want to bother with such nonsense. As Zhang Min stormed in huffily, spoiledly flopping into his arms to complain that E Ji bullied her, he closed the book, took out the Three Kingdoms war chess Doggy had just made, and prepared to muddle through the evening.
2 Three Kingdoms war chess is a very fair board game. Three people attack each other on the board, sometimes two allying, sometimes all three warring—quite fun.
2 Unfortunately, he forgot one thing: any board game tests a person’s intelligence quotient. E Ji has no intelligence quotient for such things, especially war, which has nothing to do with her—she plays terribly.
2 Once the game starts, she attacks Zhang Min desperately, ignoring Yun Ce’s attacks entirely. When Yun Ce takes one of her cities, she even praises him fiercely, saying he should take more of her cities, and finally slaughter Zhang Min until she’s routed.
3 After three games, E Ji is still full of enthusiasm, but Zhang Min, killed to nothing each time, flies into a rage, cursing E Ji as a fool nonstop.
3 Seeing the two brawling properly without targeting each other’s bellies, Yun Ce decides to go check on the red date horse, see if it’s fitting in with its similarly red wife, without kicking or biting others.
3 “You should marry another wife. Then you’d have a comfortable place to sleep at night.” Seeing Yun Ce annoyed, Doggy immediately offers him a plan.
3 “You saw the Three Kingdoms war chess just now. Don’t you think it’s very suitable for three people?”
3 “It’s originally for three people.”
3 “One more, and I might have to join.”
3 “Looks like marrying one is better. But Zhang Min’s figure is really tempting. When I treated her back then, I even thought about tweaking her skin repair a bit, but in the end found her natural state is the most beautiful.
3 Speaking of which, you married her out of lust for her beauty, right?”
3 Yun Ce stops, looks at the sky, and says to Doggy in his mind: “You don’t have a gender, do you?”
3 “I can define one myself.”
4 “How about ‘supermarket trash bag’ as a gender?”
4 “No good. I still like being a man. If one day I can appear in human form, I’ll chase all the beauties in the world…”
4 Yun Ce finally sees the red date horse over the low wall. It stands in the spotlessly clean stable with its head raised, gazing at tonight’s full moon like a poet.
4 The female red date horse lies on the hay, eating it nibble by nibble. She snorts several times hoping the red date horse will eat grass with her, but it ignores her, seemingly more attracted by the thing on that full moon.
4 If not for Yun Ce’s sharp eyes, he wouldn’t see Shu Tuo, the blue-faced devil standing in the shadows. Seeing him holding a bundle of hay, Yun Ce asks: “Isn’t it a bit early to add night hay now?”
4 Shu Tuo shuffles over tremblingly, saying in an obvious falsetto: “Not late. The red date horse will eat grass after watching the moon.”
4 Yun Ce enters the stable, drags a fat eagle out from the haystack. Just as he’s about to ask Shu Tuo why he’s here, the red date horse seems to snap out of its moon-gazing trance, rescues the cawing eagle from Yun Ce’s hands, puts it back in the stable corner, and snorts at Yun Ce as if blaming him for meddling.
4 “Have you become a spirit?” Yun Ce says to the red date horse.
4 “If you become a spirit, be sure to tell me. I want to see if you can cultivate internal breath too.”
4 Yun Ce says two sentences in a row, but seeing the red date horse still looking dazed, he sighs, takes the hay from Shu Tuo, and spreads it evenly in front of the red date horse.
5 He feels he’s been too presumptuous.
5 When he returns to the bedroom, the two women have stopped brawling and are sleeping in the same quilt. Zhang Min holds E Ji in her arms; both sleep peacefully.
5 At dawn, Yun Clan Villa wakes from sleep again, like a rusty machine stirring lightly at first. With a shrill bird cry, Yun Clan Villa sputters into action: hungry cattle and horses and sheep start calling, then the huge flocks of chickens E Ji raises fly onto the treetops, joining in loud calls.
5 Then, the sun peeks over the mountaintop, and a new day begins.
5 When Yun Ce goes out, he unusually sees Huo Liao.
5 He looks like he’s been waiting a long time. Seeing Yun Ce come out, he pulls a book from his bosom for Yun Ce to see, then says: “Are you sure this is a profound knowledge?”
5 Yun Ce looks at the cover, sees《Advanced Mathematics》 written on it, and nods: “This is the Yun Clan’s secret, not to be transmitted.”
5 Huo Liao nods: “Feng An told me the same when he gave it to me, but I can’t understand it.”
5 Yun Ce laughs: “Not understanding is normal. I’d be surprised if you could.”
5 Huo Liao says: “Is it that hard?”
6 Yun Ce says seriously: “Very hard. Do you need me to explain it to you?”
6 Huo Liao frowns at Yun Ce: “Your insights?”
6 Yun Ce nods: “Master taught it before, but I’ve almost forgotten it all.”
6 “Is what your master taught definitely correct?”
6 “It should be, right.”
6 Huo Liao gives Yun Ce a disdainful look, tucks the book into his bosom, turns, and leaves, as if staying a moment longer would fumigate him with Yun Ce’s stupidity.
6 “Without my explanation, you won’t understand this book.” Yun Ce calls out loudly.
6 “Any knowledge, I’ll master it. As for you, parroting explanations of such knowledge—you’re not afraid of heaven’s thunder?”
6 Yun Ce rubs his face hard. Suffering such undeserved disaster early in the morning is too unjust. Mathematics is something you either get or you don’t. Anyway, he doesn’t believe a Great Han native who doesn’t even know the symbols inside, never studied《Basic Mathematics》, can self-teach《Advanced Mathematics》.
6 Anyway, he absolutely doesn’t believe it.
